Privilege escalation occurs when a user gets to access more resources than is normally allowed when it should have been protected from the application. This is usually conducted from a flaw in the application. The result is that the application performs actions with more privileges than intended by the application developer or system administrator.

Privilege escalation occurs when a user gets to access more resources than is normally allowed when it should have been protected from the application. This is usually conducted from a flaw in the application. The result is that the application performs actions with more privileges than intended by the application developer or system administrator.

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The degree of the escalation depends on which privileges the attacker is authorized to possess and which privileges can be obtained in a successful attack. Fro example a programming error that permits a user to gain extra privilege after successful authentication limits the degree of escalation because the user is already authorized to hold some privilege. Likewise, a remote attacker gaining superuser privilege without any authentication presents a greater degree of escalation.

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The degree of the escalation depends on which privileges the attacker is authorized to possess and which privileges can be obtained in a successful attack. For example, a programming error that permits a user to gain extra privilege after successful authentication limits the degree of escalation because the user is already authorized to hold some privilege. Likewise, a remote attacker gaining superuser privilege without any authentication presents a greater degree of escalation.

Brief Summary

Privilege escalation occurs when a user gets to access more resources than is normally allowed when it should have been protected from the application. This is usually conducted from a flaw in the application. The result is that the application performs actions with more privileges than intended by the application developer or system administrator.

The degree of the escalation depends on which privileges the attacker is authorized to possess and which privileges can be obtained in a successful attack. For example, a programming error that permits a user to gain extra privilege after successful authentication limits the degree of escalation because the user is already authorized to hold some privilege. Likewise, a remote attacker gaining superuser privilege without any authentication presents a greater degree of escalation.